* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', Captain Holly Short uses a cot to beat her way through concrete so she can reach bare earth and plant an acorn in it to regain her powers.* In the second book of the Literature/OldKingdom Trilogy, ''Literature/{{Lirael}}'', Sam and his classmates fend off zombies with cricket equipment. (Note: the book pre-dates ''Shaun of the Dead'' by three years.)* Creator/StephenKing likes this trope:** In the novella ''Literature/TheLangoliers'' (also in the screen adaptation), Albert (teenage violin player) not only uses his cased violin as a weapon at one point, but improvises an even more destructive one from a tablecloth and toaster. At another point, Nick ponders coins/keys between the fingers as improvised brass knuckles. The character in question is basically [[Series/BurnNotice Michael Westen]], though.** Another King example is ''Literature/TheMist'', where apart from one handgun, the protagonists have to scrounge monster-fighting weapons from the supermarket in which they are trapped. One elderly woman has great success using cans of Raid.** ''Literature/MrMercedes'' and ''Literature/FindersKeepers'' (part of the Bill Hodges trilogy) bring us the Happy Slapper, made of ball bearings in a sock. In the latter, a character uses a whiskey decanter as a makeshift weapon as well.** In "Lunch at the Gotham Café" (from ''Literature/EverythingsEventual''), the protagonist uses a pot of boiling water and a hot skillet to at least slow down the crazed Guy enough to escape.* [[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy Lisbeth Salander]] uses a nail gun and a golf club to save herself or other people, at different points in time. And, that's not counting the times she gets highly creative with everyday objects when ''not'', strictly speaking, improvising... since she's had time to plan. When she gets creative, it gets messy.* ''Literature/TheBourneSeries'', with Bourne using kitchen knives, pens, magazines, hand towels and goodness knows what else, to lethal effect.* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' based ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' novels, Tika the barmaid defeated a Draconian with a frying-pan. Although she only did it once, it's now seen as [[MemeticMutation her defining characteristic]].** Well, she did graduate to Shield Bashing.* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has a number of examples. There's Vimes' creative use of a signal flare in ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', Susan Sto Helit's magical poker in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', three elves being defeated with [[GrievousHarmWithABody a fourth elf]] in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies''. Oh, and Rincewind's judicious use of a half-brick in a sock in ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}''. And Truckle's wooden log in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes''. And probably many other but this should do for now.** Vimes was taught by the best improvised-weapon user he'd ever encountered in a bar fight, a heavily scarred man named Gussy Two Grins, who could even see the weapons in a piece of cloth or a piece of ''fruit'' (as mentioned in ''Discworld/NightWatch'').** Also in ''Discworld/NightWatch'', where Vimes kills a man with a ruler. A ruler! In a segment on technology for prisons, a case of cell-made shanks were shown; one was a wooden ruler that had been perfectly sharpened from the six-inch point on. So this isn't quit so unreasonable. The area the rebels led by Vimes are 'holed up' in includes the city's main butchery shops. Falls somewhere between Kitchen and Farmland, and maybe edging towards Nightmare (a sword is the sort of weapon you expect to deal with, a meat-hook will probably catch you off-guard), especially when they're used by men with as much or more experience with them (20 odd hours a week or more) than most soldiers have with their swords.*** At one point a solder tasked with explaining why the army hasn't put down a rebellion of unarmed civilians notes to himself that 'unarmed' is rather stretching the point when applied to a 200 pound slaughterhouse worker carrying a meathook and a flensing knife.*** Goes badly off the rails for one would-be bottle fighter. He's never done it before, and screws up breaking the bottom out of a beer bottle, causing the whole thing to shatter into [[AbsurdlySharpBlade sharper-than-razors]] fragments. While held firmly.** In ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', we see Vimes' instinctive consideration of this trope as he visits a cadre of townsfolk with their work tools and offhandedly notes how much damage each of them can do if used (im)properly. In the climax, he's without his sword and has to resort to one such, a steel toolbox.** And then there's Conina the Barbarian Hairdresser from ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}''. "The one she stabbed with the scissors was probably better off than the one she raked with the (steel-toothed) comb."** There's also Tiffany Aching, who takes out elves with a frying pan.* Mariel, the spunky anthropomorphic mouse girl of the ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' series. She was thrown into the sea, tied to a piece of wood. The wood floated to shore, and she was attacked by a seabird, which she proceeded to beat away using nothing but the knotted end of the rope she'd been tied with. She took the rope as her favoured weapon, calling it the "Gullwhacker".* Jonathan Hemlock, of the ''Eiger Sanction'' and the ''Loo Sanction'', is the master of this. None of the martial arts instructors can figure out how he keeps passing his requirements, until they try to teach him a lesson.* In ''A Proper Taming'', Portia Haverall whacks Conner Dewhurst, the Earl of Doncaster, over the head with a bedwarmer, knocking him senseless. [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Beddenpan-bovenzijde.jpg An image of a bedwarmer can be seen here.]]* Slippery Jim [=DiGriz=], in ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat The Stainless Steel Rat Goes To Hell]]''. Not to spoil too much, but there's a need to go to an area that doesn't let electronics or machinery work. So Jim arms a company of Marines with three-foot-long salamis. After they are used to smack down the bad guys, a secondary, peaceful application is found.** Plus there's the time he's on the {{Big Brother|IsWatching}} planet and can't smuggle in weapons. He improvises a sap by stuffing coins in a sock while hidden from prying eyes under his bedsheets.* In ''Literature/TreasureIsland'', [[HandicappedBadass Long John Silver]] throws his cane at a man to knock him down so he can finish him off with a knife.* In William Boyd's spy novel ''Restless'', the main character is trained as a spy but her handler tells her she doesn't need actual combat training, and that her survival instincts will serve her well enough if she's in a dangerous situation. Later in the book [[spoiler:she kills an armed assassin by stabbing him in the eye with a pencil]]* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' has the Lobotomizer, essentially a bladed shovel made of old car steel. At this point, the government is so badly reeling that it accepts the "Lobo", and it becomes a signature anti-zombie weapon.** TruthInTelevision: During WWI, those fighting in the trenches would sometimes sharpen their entrenchment tools (AKA small shovel), since they were often better weapons than the bayonets.** One soldier mentions the time he once saw TheBigGuy of his squad [[GrievousHarmWithABody use a zombie]] as ''a club''.** Another anecdote mentions a [[WaifFu tiny nun]] defending [[MamaBear her Sunday School students]] with a six-foot candleholder. She's later mentioned to have [[ChurchMilitant joined the army]].* In ''[[Literature/{{Conqueror}} Wolf of the Plain]]'', Temujin and Khasar kill the man who hired the Tartars to kill their father and his bodyguards by ripping off plates of their own armour and slashing their throats with them.* Specialty of BND agent Karl Hahn in ''Literature/PhoenixForce''.* In Neal Stephenson's ''Reamde'', Zula Forthrast uses the broken shards of a DVD of the film ''Love Actually'' to kill a terrorist.* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Winds of Fate]]'', Kerowyn makes a point of training Princess Elspeth to think of anything around her as a weapon, which promptly proves its value when an assassin attacks her and she breaks a vase and cuts his throat with it. Later it becomes a bit of a joke between the two of them.* The second ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' tie-in novel, "Jacinto's Remnant" features a battle in a general store between COG and Locust forces in a flashback to the year 1 AE. After Marcus's bayonet breaks trying to pierce a Drone's tough hide, Tai saves him with a nearby circular power saw. This served as the in-universe inspiration for the series's signature Chainsaw Bayonet.* In Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Literature/IceStation'', gas-powered grappling hooks are used as weapons at one point. ''Very'' effectively.** In ''Area 7'', broken pieces of airplane are used as swords and shields.* Innocent items put to lethal use are one of humanity's [[PlanetOfHats distinguishing traits]] in the ''Literature/KnownSpace'' series. It particularly makes a point of how any high-tech equipment that involves a laser can be modified into a lethal weapon (including a highly advanced ''adjustable flashlight''), but it also has a lot of smackdowns with mining equipment.** Another notable offensive (and defensive) use of non-combat technology involves a group of humans (in pressure suits) taking on a group of 8-foot tall Kzinti warriors. The only one they're worried about is the one in the armor, which is handily taken care of with a power drill to the chest. The rest of the Kzinti are practically helpless, as their instinctive mode of attack is to slash with their claws. These humans are wearing ''industrial'' pressure suits, the kind used by asteroid miners and other people who need suits that are highly resistant to being cut or torn.* A professional hitman in ''Safe Harbor'' by Eugene Izzi has taken this trope to heart, since infiltration's a lot easier when you're not obviously armed. His WeaponOfChoice is a credit card that he meticulously sharpened one edge of, and he can actually slit people's throats with it.* Played with in ''Pest Control'', when the hitman-hounded New York protagonist realizes that his best weapon to fight back is ''New York City'', itself. Say, by slipping through a certain restaurant's back door with a killer hot on his heels, luring the gunman through the kitchen, and then ducking for cover as both emerge into a dining area packed with mafiosi and their trigger-happy bodyguards.* In Dean Koontz' "Literature/OddThomas" series, the titular main character states that he hates using guns, but can, will, and has used anything else on hand as a weapon.* Julio Poertena from the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series carries a big wrench, which he uses to adjust the attitude of [[PercussiveMaintenance malfunctioning gear]] and enemies in close range with equal fervour and precision.* In ''Blackout'', Literature/CalLeandros, who is normally happiest using large-caliber firearms, kills a spider the size of a German shepherd -- with a ''fork.''* In ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington The Honor of the Queen]]'', Honor uses a metal tray as a thrown weapon against [[spoiler:Protector Benjamin's would-be assassins.]]* [[Literature/TimeScout Time Scouts]] prefer to stay invisible. Failing that, they prefer to use their favorite weapons. Failing that, they'll use whatever they can lay their hands on.* In an explicit shout-out to ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Harry [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Dresden]] tries to turn his recently-broken blasting rod into two stakes for fighting vampires. It doesn't work. He's also been known to hold mouthfuls of garlic and let vampires tackle him, and use a (steel) letter opener and nails to ward off Fae. He's killed a demon with an elevator. He was much more fond of this earlier in the series.** Toot Toot saved Harry from the skin-walker when Toot Toot tried to attack the skin-walker with a box-cutter and wearing makeshift armor. Remember, Toot Toot is the size of a G.I. Joe action figure, the skin-walker is (at the moment) about ten feet tall, and is always one of ''the'' heavy-weight eldritch abominations in the series.** Thomas Raith broke a chair over another White Court vampire. The chair was made of metal.** A badly constructed Entropy Curse will do this. Bees? Electric shock in a pool of your own blood? A car, ''while you're jet-skiing''? And, in what may be the single funniest scene in the series, a ''frozen turkey falling out of the sky.''** Harry once confided to the reader on the merits of a ring of keys as a projectile weapon. And tried to trip up a chlorofiend (read: plant monster) with gumballs.** Murphy melted down silver earrings and forged them into bullets.* In ''Literature/TheSavannahReidMysteries'', Atlanta saves her sister Savannah's life by smashing her guitar into the murderer's leg, breaking both the leg and the guitar.* Clockpunk in "Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer" uses the streetlight The Vitalizer wrapped around her to [[spoiler:beat him into submission.]]* In Manly Wade Wellman's short story "O Ugly Bird!" John uses his guitar to kill the monster. [[spoiler:It's strung with silver, and when he smashes it onto the creature, the silver kills it. John removes the strings and puts them on a new guitar.]]* In ''Literature/FateZero'', Berserker's special ability turns any object in his hands into a super-powerful weapon and also makes him an expert at using it, even completely random objects.* A heavy stone paperweight is pressed into service on two separate occasions in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''.* From the Old Icelandic ''Literature/SagaOfGrettirTheStrong'': When two parties start fighting over a stranded whale, things get violent:-->''"Ivar's brother Leif beat one of Steinn's men to death with a rib of the whale. Then they fought with anything they could get.”''* Creator/RoaldDahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" involves a woman using a frozen leg of lamb on her philandering policeman husband to lethal effect. [[spoiler:Then she feeds it and the rest of the dinner to his colleagues who come to investigate.]]* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}'', Arlene likes to make creative use of things around her. First was her ChainsawGood moment on Deimos. On Earth, she uses a fire extinguisher to surprising effect on an arch-vile.* At one point in ''[[Literature/SpaceMarineBattles Legion of the Damned]]'', a group of human miners are trapped on a small asteroid by a ''massive'' armada of alien warships. They utterly shatter the fleet my destroying all their battleships (and thus eliminate their ''entire'' command and control capability) by ramming them with the mass-driver launched drones they use to scoop-mine the local star for dust that glitters in a very pretty way.* In the Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman novel ''Literature/GoodOmens'', Crowley grabs a tire iron to fight Beelzebub with. Ironically, this would be better than an actual weapon, because "It wouldn't be any good, but then, nothing would. In fact it'd be much more terrible facing the Adversary with anything like a decent weapon. That way you might have a bit of hope, which would make it worse."* ''Literature/PanTadeusz'' has some Russians taken out of the fight by clever collapsing of a cheese storage.* Creator/JohnVarley’s ''Literature/TheGoldenGlobe'': "You’ve got to stop this business of assault with a deadly musical instrument." Which isn't completely accurate: in the second encounter, after the sousaphone melee, Sparky attacked Isambard Comfort with a violin ''case'', not the violin itself.* Valeriy Yantsev's short story "A Million Years Later" starts with humans discovering [[SubspaceOrHyperspace subspace]] travel that allows them to get to any place in the galaxy in a matter of months (the time being used to accelerate and decelerate to and from near-light speeds for the instantaneous jump). However, there is a nasty side effect, if a ship happens to exit subspace near a large stellar body, resulting in an EarthShatteringKaboom. Ninety years later, a solution is found that allows for safe subspace travel, signaling the start of a Golden Age of interstellar exploration. Another TimeSkip, and the top brass reveals the existence of a potentially hostile alien race, which has been observing humanity for decades. Humanity's only advantage is FTLTravel, but the aliens have many warships, while humans have only a small number of civilian ships, none of them armed (there has been peace on Earth for centuries). A starship is sent in the direction of the alien scout ships' departure to obtain intelligence on their homeworld at Altair. Another TimeSkip (10 years later for the crew; 40 years later on Earth), and TheCaptain and his NumberTwo discuss the possible plans of action upon finding out that the aliens have a massive armada preparing to depart for Earth. There is no possible way Earth can be ready go meet it, so TheCaptain suggests disabling the subspace drive's safeguards and jumping into the heart of Altair's sun, which would trigger a supernova, ending the threat for Earth at the cost of their lives. [[TitleDrop A million years later]], an organization back on Earth dedicated to studying supernovae determines that the Altair supernova was not natural and that the aliens, whose remains have been found on one of the planets, did not see it coming.* The main characters in ''Literature/EdenGreen'' are often forced to either create weapons from their own immortal bodies or adapt them from whatever debris is at hand.* In ''Literature/TheMadKing'' by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs, the hero is attacked from behind, but [[RevealingReflection sees his attacker reflected in the glass over a framed picture]]. Not having a proper weapon to hand, he takes the picture off the wall and hits his attacker with it.* ''Literature/TheEyeOfArgon'': Grignr manages to stab a man in the throat with a ''rat pelvis'' of all things.----